Egyptology Books: Egypt's history and Language
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Kurt Sethe's masterwork, the four volume, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, containing historical and biographical texts from Egypt's 18th dynasty, has been out of print for almost 100 years. Still widely referenced, it is now available in an affordable, paperback, facsimile edition from BFPress. The book contains Sethe"s hand drawn hieroglyphs along with the original German text.
$14.95 (paperback), each volume - - - 6" X 9", Band 1 - 322 pages, Band 2 - 318 pages, Band 3 - 320 pages, Band 4 - 298 pages.
Amazon reviews:
     Excellent in every aspect - J.D.
     This book is an inexpensive alternative for any Egyptology student interested in the 18th Dynasty. ... All four volumes contain copies of original documents. Sethe's handwriting is easy to read. And as a paperback, the books are easy to handle. A beautiful and interesting collection for any Egyptologist. - C. (This review was translated from the German.)

The Essentials

BFPresss' series "The Essentials" are books that anyone serious about the study of Egyptology will find useful. They provice low cost, yet comprehensive, translation aids to hieroglyphs that are easy to carry and convenient to use. The emphasis is on words found in monumental inscriptions. Their convenient size makes themt ideal for everyday use anywhere one happens to be, a local museum or the monuments in Egypt. They are "must haves" for any serious student, Egyptologist or Egyptophile.
Amazon reviews:
     This review applies to Bill Petty's several smallish paperback references on Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and language. His earlier pair of books, "Hieroglyphic Sign List" and "Hieroglyphic Dictionary" were indispensable resources when I commenced my study a few years ago. Recently, Bill has added three more titles patterned on the first so that the student can cross-refer seamlessly between them. The new books, "Egyptian Glyphary", "The Names of the Kings of Egypt" and "English to Middle Egyptian Dictionary" are sufficiently comprehensive, yet simple and usable to be the primary references which I use. In addition, Petty's "Understanding Hieroglyphic Inscriptions" is a superb textbook arranged in the same style. There are plenty of other references in this subject, but these excellent (and cheap!) books are the gold standard, especially for the beginner. - R.P.
Hieroglyphic Dictionary is the No. 1, best selling Egyptian Translation Reference book on Amazon. It contains a about 4,000 entries. This compares favorably to the 2,500 entries in the vocabulary of Alan Gardiner's "Egyptian Grammar", and the 5,000 plus entries in Raymond Faulkner's "Dictionary of Middle Egyptian".
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 5.5" X 8.5", 190 pages
Amazon reviews:
     Perfect resource This is now my new "go-to" hieroglyphic dictionary. It's compact and has everything you need, especially at the beginning of your studies. The book is beautifully printed, and the information contained therein is priceless. I've only noticed a couple of typos in the English translations; however, it does not make the book any less brilliant or valuable. Bravo! - D.
Hieroglyphic Sign List is the No. 2, best selling Egyptian Translation Reference book on Amazon. Definitions are included, along with sign descriptions and relevant examples. Words are spelled out in glyphs as well as in transliteration. The order and the numbering generally follow the sign list in Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar
$14.95 (paperback) - - - 5.5" X 8.5", 134 pages
$8.95 (ebook)
Amazon reviews:
     (A) neat little book ... . All hieroglyphs are sorted by what they depict (man, woman, mammal, bird, etc.). ... A list in the back allows you to search by shape (tall, wide, etc.). The layout is very clear, finding something is as easy as it can possibly be - considering that we are dealing with hieroglyphs here. It's a brief little book, just 132 pages with 7 or 8 or so entries per page, but it's unlikely to fit into your pocket. It will, however, easily go into your rucksack, together with the sandwiches. - N.R.
English to Middle Egyptian Dictionary is the most comprehensive English to Middle Egyptian dictionary available, with about 8,000 entries, including almost all of the most common English words in use. It compares very favorably with Gardiner's English-Egyptian Vocabulary and Nichols' book, each containing only about 2,000 entries.
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 5.5" X 8.5", 301 pages
Amazon reviews:
      I love this book!! I have been studying Egyptian hieroglyphs for more than two decades. I have a good library of text books ... . But I have longed for an English to Middle Egyptian dictionary. I now have it. And it meets my every expectation!! I am absolutely delighted!! - K.
     FINALLY! This is a great resource for those studying the ancient Egyptian language. This is the most accessible volume I've come across so far. I wish I'd had ... this when I first started studying Egyptian hieroglyphs. - K.K.
The Names of the Kings of Egypt is a fully indexed listing of Egypth's Kings, including their Horus names, prenomens and nomens, along with most variations one is likely to encounter. It lists more than 300 kings and queens of Ancient Egypt, about 850 cartouches and 300 serekhs.
$14.95 (paperback) - - - 5.5" X 8.5", 132 pages
Amazon reviews:
     Very complete key; invaluable in reading damaged cartouches A wonderful, pocket-sized work meant for people on tours of ancient sites or museums. In terms of numbers of kings it is much more complete than other resource, including Horus names and most common variations ... There is an index of all hieroglyphs seen in the text ... followed by a reference to the names it is found in. ... This type of index is invaluable for identifying cartouches that are broken or only partially legible. - A.S.

Egyptian Glyphary is a unique Egyptian language dictionary. Rather than listing words in alphabetical order, it lists words based on the hieroglyphic signs that they contain, resulting in easier word look-up. One can find a word without knowing its beginning letter or its transliteration. A word can often be found even if part of the word is missing or unreadable. It fills the need for a low cost, yet comprehensive, translation aid to hieroglyphs that is convenient to use. Its emphasis is on words found in monumental inscriptions. It contains about 8,000 total entries, of which about 4,000 are unique
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 5.5" X 8.5", 298 pages
Amazon reviews:
     Five Stars Use it ALL THE TIME!! So helpful with translations and transliterations. - T.H.
     Bill Petty has provided us with very good references for interpreting Egyptian hieroglyphs. My Egyptian hieroglyph study group relies on this volume for the variety of uses of individual hieroglyphs. - G.C.
     Hugely helpful! User-friendly. This is quite amazing. I was not sure how it would work when I ordered it but it is simple. The glyphs are arranged in the usual Gardiner order. Given a cluster of glyphs I can't translate, I find one (an unusual one if possible) in this book and go down the following list to see if a related combination shows up. I am a beginner and do not always get a hit, but when I do it is fantastic! Oh! "Hereditary prince!" There is a very handy index at the back with small signs so you can scan and find the Gardiner number (e.g. for "mouth") so you do not have to flip through lots of pages (e.g., going through 32 pages of "body parts".) Overall, wonderful, user-friendly, and a great contribution. - S.B.

Other Egyptology Books

Understanding Hieroglyphic Inscriptions is a self-study course designed to help the student acquire a basic understanding the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions likely to be encountered on a visit to Egypt. We do not seek to be able to understand every possible Hieroglyphic text. Our focus is on the monumental inscriptions, a rather small subset of the entire literature. The goal will be to learn, or become familiar with, about 200 hieroglyphic signs and 400 words ... the signs and words you are most likely to find on the walls of temples, on stela and in tombs. We will, in general, learn them in the order of their frequency of use. That is, the signs and words you are most likely to encounter will be learned before those that are used less often. In addition, this course covers just enough grammar to give the student a good understanding of the meaning of the texts, without being concerned too much with an exact translation. A number of shortcuts and approximations are made in translations, without sacrificing essential meaning.The book includes a comprehensive sign list, a 1,500 word dictionary, answers to exercises and translation notes and shortcuts.
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 8" X 10", 258 pages
Amazon reviews:
     Comprehensive and easy for beginners Comprehensive and easy for beginners I enjoyed this course because I found the logical progression of concepts easy to follow. Each chapter builds on the previous one without stranding the reader. There are many exercises and the answers are included in an appendix for those of us who get stuck. The Egyptians consistently wrote repeatable hieroglyphic inscriptions on their monuments and tombs, which makes the novice able to at least recognize many of them after taking the course. That said, it is also a very complex language, with exceptions to the many rules. Bill Petty did a great job of describing the rules, when and how they are applied, and giving great examples. After taking this course, I feel that I would be able to read many of the inscriptions ..., although a further course of study will be necessary if I want to become more adept. This book give the basic tools necessary for anyone who wants to learn them. I highly recommend it. - T.H.
Akhenaten's Royal Court: The City at Amarna and Its Officials - - - Ancient Egypt's Amarna Period lasted some 17 years, while its new capital city, called Akhetaten (the Horizon of the Aten), was abandoned after only about a dozen years. Due to its desert location, it remained relatively unoccupied right into the modern era. The site is now called Amarna, named after a much later Bedouin tribe that settled here.
Archaeological excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries exposed forgotten temples, palaces, buildings, tombs, and cemeteries. It's through those investigations that much has been learned about the city and the life of its inhabitants. No other ancient Egyptian site has provided the snapshot in time that is found at Amarna. Much has been written about the king, Akhenaten, and his famous wife, the beautiful Nefertiti. However little has been said about the members of Amarna's Royal Court. Perhaps this is because most of the scenes in their tombs highlight the king and queen, rather than the scenes and text descriptions of daily life which are usually depicted in New Kingdom tombs. If, however, information which is scattered across various sources is brought together, a vibrant image emerges of a busy city, inhabited by an intriguing cast of characters that ran the nation of Egypt during Akhenaten's reign.
This is their story. The story of the important men and women who served at Akhenaten's Royal Cour
$24.95 (Paperback) - - - 8.5" X 11", 160 pages, COLOR
$34.95 (Hardcover) - - - 8.25" X 11", 160 pages, COLOR
Amazon reviews:
      Wealth of Information A most unusual book with ... 245 pictures, plans and drawings. The book illustrates rather than describes the long vanished city of Akhetaton (Amarna). I have read dozens of books and hundreds of articles on Amarna, and this is the book that best explains the layouts of temples, palaces, and tombs. By using colored arrows on black a d white pictures Pepper explains what the viewer is looking at. For example, ... the author highlights the owner of the tomb so we can see his relationship to the monarchs. When I first looked at this book I expected to be disappointed, but I was amazed to find the amount of information imparted. A real must for all Amarnaphiles!!! - K.L.M.

After Akhenaten: What happened to his Royal Court - - - Although much is known about ancient Egypt, thanks in no small part to their extensive written records, the Amarna Period following the death of Akhenaten is little understood. Why is this? Certainly, a contributing factor is the purge of monuments and records from that era by later pharaohs, but it also seems that those associated with Akhenaten and his sun-god, the Aten, distanced themselves from their former king after his death; names were changed, Akhenaten's capital city of Akhetaten was abandoned, and the Aten disappeared from Egypt's pantheon of gods.2 Bits and pieces of evidence have been unearthed over the past two hundred years which have led to a better understanding of what happened during Akhenaten’s reign and the years following, but there is still much speculation and controversy about what transpired. Even the experts who have devoted their careers to the study of the Amarna Period do not always agree on what happened. Popular fiction has portrayed Akhenaten as a heretic who rejected Egypt's old gods and tried to implement monotheism. And, as a king out-of-touch with his people his legacy was overthrown by the 'next' king, Tutankhamun, who restored the old ways. But the actual events were much more complicated than that. Theories come and go, and slowly, more and more is learned through new excavations, study of long-lost museum acquisitions, and re-interpretation of old accepted facts. This is the story of the people who lived after Akhenaten's death, including his royal family, his nobles, and his middle-class workers and artisans. What happened to them, after Akhenaten died?
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 8.5" X 11", 132 pages COLOR
Ahmose: An Egyptian Soldier's Story - - - The 3,500 year old story of Ahmose is being told here for the first time in a book intended for the Egypt enthusiast as well as the general public. Relying on ancient tomb inscriptions, papyrus texts, scribal exercises painted on wooden tablets, published sources, and a requisite amount of conjecture, the author has written an interpretive biography of this remarkable man. Ahmose lived through one of Egypt's greatest periods of transition, from a divided and conquered country into the world's first super power. He was an active soldier for over 40 years during the early 18th Dynasty and fought under three kings: Ahmose, Amenhotep I, and Thutmose I. Through his personal bravery and shrewd investments, Ahmose grew from a lowly recruit into a high ranking officer, and a wealthy land owner, whose social status rose to the point that his grandson served as tutor for the son of King Thutmose I. By the time of his death, at age 67, Ahmose had lived during the reigns of seven pharaohs, including Egypt's greatest king, Thutmose III. In addition to Ahmose's biography this book contains the full translation, with explanation, of his autobiography as it appears on his tomb wall, as well as the translations of several other, related historical documents. It also contains information on the Egyptian calendar, the organization of the military, and other subjects of interest.
$19.95 (paperback) - - - 6" X 9", 318 pages
Amazon reviews:
      A Simply Outstanding Book This book is a treasure-trove for the layman Egyptologist.
     Its first half is devoted to an historical reconstruction of the late 17th-early 18th Dynasties of Egyptian history based upon the Ahmose autobiographical inscription. Petty modesty calls it an "interpretive biography," but it is far more than that. It is a tour-de-force exercise in multi-disciplinary historical writing.
     The book's second half contains: a free translation of the Ahmose inscription, a thorough-going translation and commentary, several ancillary historical sources critical to his discussion, a handy timeline, several family trees, an authoritative discussion of the Egyptian military organization of the time, comments on the Egyptian calendar, a glossary of terms, bibliography, and index. In short, Petty has totally nailed it.
     What makes Petty's work so unique is that he went into the field to take this own pictures and collect his own transcription of the Ahmose inscription. Dove-tailing that with his own formidable grasp of the ancient Egyptian language, Petty's military background comes on full-force in describing to us what an ancient Egyptian soldier's life truly was like.
     In short, this book was a labor of love and it truly shows on each and every page. - W.J.C.
The Carnarvon Tablet - - - In 1908, prior to his association with Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon discovered a wooden tablet near the entrance of a tomb he was excavating on Luxor's West Bank. This inauspicious object, left in a basket in the Chief Inspector's office, turned out to be the most important inscription of the early 20th Century. It was studied and debated by scholars for years until 1932 when corroborating evidence for the story it told was uncovered.This booklet relates the events surrounding the tablet's discovery, offers extensive quotes from several of the more important articles published at the time, and provides a detailed translation of the text on both sides of the tablet.
$9.95 (paperback) - - - 6" X 9", 102 pages
Amazon reviews:
     Great book Small + compact to carry around .Very good informative book. - J.J.
Luxor:Gods, Grit and Glory - - - The very name of Luxor conjures up images of romance and mystery, intrigue and suspense, ancient gods and modern archaeologists, pharaohs and mummies. Within these twenty-five stories you will experience Luxor through the ages as you wander the desert with ancient nomads searching for water. See Luxor grow from a pre-dynastic village to a modern city of a half million inhabitants. Meet the people of Luxor: a lowly soldier in the army of King Thutmose III, a priest of Amun trying desperately to save his dying religion, a seller of mummies to European merchants. Study with ancient astronomers as they plot the courses of the sun and the moon. Visit the homes of ancient Egyptians and see them at work in their shops. Sail to Lebanon to find timbers for Luxor's grand temples. Join a party of Americans on a dahabeyah in the 19th century as they prepare to unwrap a mummy. All of this, and much more, awaits you in Luxor.
$14.95 (paperback) - - - 5" X 8", 468 pages, Fiction
$4.95 (eBook)
Amazon reviews:
     A unique and engaging presentation of Egyptian history, told through the eyes of inhabitants of the times, through stories depicting actual events. For those of us not apt to pick up a thick book on Egyptology, yet are romanced by the times, "Luxor: Gods, Grit and Glory" provides rich and entertaining tales that weave the reader through this hypnotic era of history. A variety of authors contribute to the book, each with a voice that pulls the reader in, challenges one to turn the page. I found myself particularly drawn the several stories written by Carol Garrasi, as she not only paints a wonderful picture with her words, her depth of knowledge of Egypt's past shows through in her writing. Her chapters allow the reader to take a brush and tools on an archeological dig, right from the comfort of their front room. - J.B.
Pharaoh's Soldier - - - Ahmose was a soldier who lived in Egypt 3,500 years ago. He began his career as just another poor recruit. As a young soldier he fought in the battles that united Egypt after it was divided by the Hyksos from the East. He then fought in the battles that subdued Egypt's southern provinces. After he was promoted to be a high ranking officer, he fought in the battles that established Egypt as a world super-power. Along the way he accumulated honors for bravery, land, wealth, and slaves. This is his story.
$14.95 (paperback) - - - 8.5" X 11", 50 pages, COLOR
Amazon reviews:
     Great Purchase - informative, beautiful stylised illustration, good value I think this is an amazing book! If you are interested in ancient Egypt this is a book for you! It's very informative and full of beautiful stylised illustrations - true to the time period - It's a bigger book than I expected and I think its price is very cheap comparatively so I think its a solid purchase for anyone who loves ancient Egypt. Would recommend. - J.
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Ahhotep, Queen of Egypt: A One Act Play - - - A one act play featuring Egypt in its great transition from the 2nd Intermediate Period to the New Kingdom, as seen through the eyes of Queen Ahhotep. She was the daughter, wife and mother of the Egyptian Kings involved. Most of the dialog is taken from actual historical documents from the described period. This work can be freely performed and no permissions are required.
$9.95 (paperback) - - - 8.5" X 11", 55 pages
$2.99 (ebook)
Amazon reviews:
     I feel the story held interest and sounded accurate given its short one act. However it lacked power. And in the worst of times Egypt still held sway. Enjoyable enough. - H.C.



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